The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-05-22


Pass on through the alley. Open the door.
~O,- YOU say, at is Iocled-n No, it is not
locked 1t has never bsen locked. No
burglar would be tempted to so in there to
steal anything. The door is never locked
Only broken chair stands against the door.
Shove it back Go in. Strike a match.
Now look Beastliness and rags See those
elarin;. eyeLaIls. Be careful row what you
saw. Do not utter any insult; do not utter
any suspicion il you value your life. What
is that rel mark on the walls 1t is the mark
of /, nlurierer's hand,
Look at those eyes rising up out OF the
darkness and out from the straw in the cor
rcr coming toward you, and as they
come near you your light goes out. Strike
another match Ali this Is a babe, not Ike
those beautiful children presented in baptism
This little one never smiled; it never viii
SMILE A flower flung awfully barren
beach. OH heavenly Shepherd, fold that
little one IN Thy arms. Wrap around you
your shawl or your coat tighter, for the cold
wind sweeps through.
Strike another match Ali is it possible
that that young wofnans Scared and bruised
face ever was looked into by maternal tender
nessf Utter no scorn. Utter no harsh word
No ray of hope ever will dawn on that brow
But the light has gone out. Do Eot strike
another light. 1t would be mockery to
o
Pass out and pass down the street Our
cities of Brooklyn and New York and all our
great cities arc full of such homes, and the
worst time the third watch OF the night.
Do you know it is in this third watch of the
nioht that criminals do their worst work.
II IL the criminals watch.
At $40 o'clock you will find them In the
drinking saloon, but toward - they go to
their garrets. they get out their tools, then
.. the. cfr fett fhnP
side for the police, they go to their work of
darkness. This is a burglar, and the false
key will soon touch the store lock. This is an
incentliary, and before morning there will be
q light on the sky and a cry Of 'Firei firer'
This il an assassin, and tomorrow morning
there will be dead body in one of the vacant
lots. During the daytime these villains in
our cities lounge about, some asleep and some
awake, but when the third watch of the night
arrives, their eye keen, their brain cool, their
arm strong, their foot fleet to fly or pursue,
they are ready.
Many of these poor creatures were brought
up in that way. They were born In a thieves
garnet. Their childish toy was a burglars
dark lantern. The first thing they remember
was their mother bandaging the brow Of their
father, struck by the police club. They be-
gan by robbing boys pockets, and now they
have come to dig the underground passage to
blast the gold vault.
Just SO long rs there are neglected children
of the street just SO long will have these
desperndoes- Some one, wishing to make a
good Christian point and to quote a passage
of Scripture, expecting to get Scriptural
passage in answer, said TO one OF these poor
Lads, east out and wretched: "When your ia
thcr and your mother forslke you, who then
will take you upF' And the boy said: 1.-THE
perlicei the perlicer
In the third watch of the night gambling
docs its worst work. What though the hours
be slipping away, and though the wife be
waiting in the cherries homei Stir up the
fire. Bring on more drinks Put up more
stakes. That commercial. house that only n
little while ago put out sign of copartnership,
will this winter be wrecked on a gamblers
| table There viii be many a money till that
| will spring n leak. member of congress
| carnhled with n member elect and won
| sI2o,O00. The old way of getting liv-
| ing is SO slow. The old way of getting a
| fortune is so stupid. Come, let toss
up and see who shall have it, And so the
work goes on, from the Wheeling wretches
| pitching pennies in n rum grocery up to the
| millionaire gambler in the stock market.
| In the third watch of the night, pass down
the streets of these cities, and you hear the
click of the dice ard the sharp, keen stroke Of
| merchant princes diSnount, and legislators,
| tired of making laws, take respite in
/ breaking them. All classes of people are
/ robbed by this crime-the importer of for
i eign silks and the dealer in Chatham street
| pocket handkerchief The clerks of the
| store take a hand after the shutters are put
i up and the officers of the court while away
/ their time while the jury Is out.
4 In Baden, when that city was the
Il NJ oil crap,llino, r1InRaS on, earth IN
was no unusual thing the next morning, in
| the woods around about the city, to find the
4 suspended bodies of suicides. Whatever be
the splendor of surroundings, there is no ex-
/ cuse for this crime The thunders Of eternal
| destruction roll in the deep rumble OF that
| gambling tenpin alley, and as men come out
to join the long procession of sin, all the
i drums of death beat the dead march OF a
i thousand souls.
/ In one year. in the city of New York, there
were 81 OOO, 900 sacrificed ut the gaming table.
| Perhaps some of your friends have been
| smitten of this sin. Perhaps some of you
| have been smitten by it,
! Perhaps there may be a stranger in the
| house this morning come from some of the
hotels. Look out for those agents of iniquity
| who tarry around about the hotels and ask
you: "Would you like to see the ethyl" "Yes. ="
"Have you ever been i'll that splendid build
| ing M town., "No." Then the villain will
| undertake to show you what he calls the
| "lions" and tho elephants, and after a young
man, through morbid curiosity or through
| ba.lress Of soul, has seen the "liOns' and the
elephants" he will he on enchanted ground.
| Look out for these men who move around the
hotels with sleek hats-always sleek hats
anil patronizing cir, and unaccountable in
terest about your welfare and entertainments.
| You ere fool if you cannot see through it.
| They want your money.
In Chestnut street, Philadelphia, while
| was living in that city, an incident occurred
| which was familiar to us there In Chestnut
street a young man went into a gambling
saloon, lost al his property, then blew his
| brains out, and before the blood was washed
from the hoor by the maid the comrades were
| shutting cards again. You see there is more
| mercy in the highwayman for the belated
| traveller on whose body he heaps the stones
there is more mercy in the frost for the
| flower that it kills, there is more mercy m the
| hurricane that shvcrs the steamer on the
| Long Islansl coast, than there is mercy IN the
heart of n gambler for is victim.
| In the third watch of the night, also, drunk
enncss docs its worst. The drinking will bt
respectable as O'Clock in the evening, LITTLE
| flushed at o, talkatve and garrulous ut 10, al
| III blasi,lenIous, at II the hat falls off, at
the man falls TO tho floor asking for mOr'
| drink. SuHwn through the drinking saloons
of the city, fathers, brothers, husbands, son:
good you are by nature, perhaps better
| In the high circ'es of society it is hushed up
"A merchant prince, if he gets noisy and un
comfortable, is taken by his fellow revelers
who try to get him To bed, or take him home
where he falls fiat in tho entry. Do not wake
| up the children They have had disgrac'
enough Do not let them know it. Hush il
up. But sometimes it cannot be hushed up
when the rum touches the brain and the maj
becomes thoroughly frenzied- Such a ON
came home. having been absent for SOM
| time, and during his absence his wife has